The three all-NBA teams were announced today and despite the best finish in 7 years by the Utah Jazz, Hayward wasn’t among the 15 to be honored.
This announcement came after Gordon Hayward made it to his first All-Star team. Hayward was the most deserving of the Utah Jazz players especially after recording stellar scoring statistics in the postseason.
There are several NBA players who Gordon Hayward could have easily replaced. The All-NBA third team consisted of John Wall, Demar Derozan, Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler and Deandre Jordan. Hayward is easily better than DJ and is a better offensive player than Draymond Green. John Wall and Jimmy Butler are arguably better at their positions but a closer look at the scoring averages of these players would indicate otherwise:
All-NBA 3rd Team Points Per game:
Demar DeRozan 27.3
Jimmy Butler: 23.9
John Wall: 23.1
Gordon Hayward: 21.9
Deandre Jordan: 12.7
Draymond Green: 10.2
Gordon Hayward is also more efficient than many of these “honorable mention” guys in the new look NBA where coaches miraculously figured out that three points is more than two. Look at how he ranks in three point percentage:
Gordon Hayward: 39.8%
Jimmy Butler: 36.7%
John Wall: 32.7%
Draymond Green: 30.8%
Demar DeRozan: 26.6%
Deandre Jordan: 0%
Lastly, let’s look at how Gordon Hayward compares to these other third wheels from the charity stripe (apologies to Deandre Jordan)
Jimmy Butler: 86.5%
Gordon Hayward: 84.4%
Demar DeRozan: 84.2%
John Wall: 80.1%
Draymond Green: 70.9%
Deandre Jordan: 48.2%
It’s G-Time in the NBA and Gordon Hayward will look forward to a max contract from the Utah Jazz even though the NBA might suggest that his status in the league doesn’t warrant it. Hayward performance this season warrants him at least a third-team status next year over DJ or Dray assuming he keeps up this same pace of play next season.